On Death Row
by sbrianson
Summary: In the aftermath of Sirius's betrayal, Remus finds himself in trouble with the Law, and Sirius must learn that his actions have consequences, and his pranks can backfire in ways he never thought of.
1. Arrest

On Death Row

by Stan Brianson

**Rating:** M for language and slight violence

**Author's Note:** This is an old fic which I found written in longhand amongst a pile of bank statements destined for the shredder after I moved flats over the weekend. It's old. It's not the best, but it's something to post whilst I'm trying to rid myself from the evils of writer's block and having to actually earn a living and get on with writing more. Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing to do with the Harry Potter series; if I did, Remus and Tonks, and their subsequent... _breeding _shudder!... would never have happened, I can assure you. All characters belong to JKR, apart from Officer Winters, who belongs to me. Lovely. Anyways, on with the show...

* * *

Chapter One - Arrest

"Enter!" Remus crossed the threshold and stepped into the magnificently decorated office, finding himself face-to-face with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Y-you wanted to see me, Headmaster?" he stammered. He had heard about what had happened on the night of the previous full moon from James and Peter that morning.

"Yes, I did. I trust that you are now, erm... in better health?" Dumbledore asked. His voice was uncharacteristically grave, and the almost mischievous twinkle in his eye had vanished. However it was Professor McGonagall who unnerved Remus most of all; she stood weakly, silent and shaking, her lips pursed so tightly that it was almost impossible to determine where her mouth actually was.

"Mister Lupin," Dumbledore said, indicating an unfamiliar wizard wearing robes of scarlet. "This is Officer Winters, from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad." On cue, Winters produced a gold badge bearing the crest of the Ministry of Magic from within his robes.

"Of course. How can I help you, Officer?" he replied, his voice now laced with a note of panic.

"Are you Remus John Lupin, of Four, Leveret Row, Ballyconragh, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland?" Winters had a soft, gentle voice which seemed as if it had been designed specifically to put people at ease. It reminded him of the Healers who had taken care of him after he had been bitten.

"Yes, Officer, I am," he replied.

"Good. Now, Remus. I am here regarding a very serious incident which happened on the evening of October the Fifteenth." Remus started trembling before the Officer had finished speaking. He found himself subconsciously searching the Headmaster's study for an escape route, but could only see the door through which he had entered.

The door which Winters was, seemingly without moving from his original position, now standing immediately in front of.

"Now, Remus," Winters continued. "I do not like this any more than I am sure that the good Professors here do," he said, gesturing towards Dumbledore and McGonagall with a flick of his hand. "Nevertheless, I have some things which I must say to you. A sort of script, if you will." He chuckled, humourlessly whilst Remus smiled politely. Winters's grin slowly sank once more into an expression of gravity. "Registered Werewolf number three-six-nine-four-one-three-one-one-nine. I am arresting you for the breach of the Werewolf Code of Conduct, Sixteen Thirty-Seven, for the attempted murder of Severus Snape, a human; and for the attempted lycanthropic infection of Severus Snape, a human. You do not have to say anything, unless you wish to do so, but it may harm your defence if you do not state now, or later under interrogation, anything which you may later rely on at an official Wizengamot Trial. Anything which you do say may be used as evidence against you. Do you understand, three-six-nine-four-one-three-one-one-nine?"

All the colour from Remus's face had drained away. Surely... surely after all that had happened, they weren't actually _arresting_ him, were they?

"Do you understand, Remus?" came Winters's curiously disarming voice.

"Mister Lupin?" This time, Dumbledore's voice shook him back to the consciousness of the real world.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, "y-yes, O-officer, I-I u-u-understand."

"Good lad," Winters replied. And with a flick of his wand he conjured a pair of shining silver manacles. Remus looked wildly around the room in a panic. Dumbledore's head hung low in silent, almost protesting, contemplation; McGonagall suddenly sobbed loudly and made a great show of reaching into her handbag to retrieve a large tartan handkerchief. Officer Winters advanced upon the terrified boy who had never broken the Law in his life...


	2. Death Row

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing to do with the Harry Potter series; if I did, we would have seen a lot more gratuitous werewolf nudity. All characters belong to JKR, apart from Officer Winters from Chapter One, and Officer Quentin, who I also seem to have acquired along the way.

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Chapter Two - Death Row

The bars of the cell door swung open with a loud crash which startled Remus out of a light doze.

"Oi! Wolf! Visitor! On your feet!" came the harsh bark of Officer Quentin, the Ministry Penitentiary Guard. Quentin was a short, stocky and deeply unpleasant man who appeared to have a great talent for using a silver nightstick. He was also rapidly approaching number one on Remus's "top ten" list of least favourite people.

"Wha's'a?" he said drowsily.

"You," Quentin patronised.

"Yes?"

"Have."

"I see."

"A."

"Understood."

"Visitor."

"Very good." With that, Quentin pulled a pale and shaking Sirius Black into the tiny, filthy cell with him.

"Ten minutes," he sneered, "and any _funny business_, like trying to escape for example, and..." Instead of informing the pair of the consequences of any attempted absconding, it seemed that he thought a physical demonstration would be far more appropriate. Raising his nightstick into the air and bringing it down onto Remus's left shoulder. Cackling, Quentin left the cell, slamming the door closed, and strode across to the duty desk.

Remus stood up, painfully, and tried not to trip over the trails of silver chain which bound his bare legs together. His eyes darkened, and his face fell into a deep frown.

"You...!" he whispered. He tried to extend his finger so as to point at his guest, but the chains binding his wrists to the wall meant that the furthest he could move his hand was roughly an inch beyond his waist. The dramatic effect of his finger-pointing ruined, he stared hatefully at his companion and said "you...!" again. He looked down at himself, clad only in his underpants; the result of two hours pleading with Quentin for something to cover up his previously naked body. "I'm not exactly attired for visitors at present, so if you could turn around and leave, I would be most grateful."

"Oh God, Remus," Sirius whispered shakily. "They've got you tethered up like an animal-"

"I _am_ an animal, Sirius! In the eyes of the ministry, that's _exactly_ what I am!" Remus snarled, baring his teeth, spittle flying onto Sirius's cheek. "Or perhaps you'd conveniently forgotten all the Laws concerning werewolves? Well, you seemed to remember that I was an animal just fine last week, didn't you?" He swallowed hard, and spoke quietly. "What was it, eh? A big joke at my expense? Because in case you haven't noticed, Sirius, I'm not laughing."

Sirius trembled. He'd seen his friend upset before. And miserable, and lonely, and afraid, beaten, downtrodden and forlorn. He'd seen Remus feeling all of these things, but until that moment he had never in his life seen Remus angry. Mores the point, angry _at him_.

"Those chains," he said, looking at his feet. "Are they..."

"Silver? Yes. And they're beginning to make me feel quite ill, thank you very much," Remus scoffed. "I mean, did Snape honestly piss you off that _badly_, Sirius? _Fucking Christ_! He could have been bloody _killed_, for fucks sake!"

"I... I didn't think..."

"But that's just _it_, Sirius!" he shouted. "You didn't think! You _never_ bloody think, do you?! You always have to go that extra mile to go too far, and we're the ones who have o get you out of the proverbial when it hits the fan and splatters all over you aren't we? Well, now _I'm_ the one in the shit, Sirius. I could get death for my part in your little prank, did you know that? Just being there, unaware, and I could bloody _hang_ for it! And I didn't do _anything_!" Remus laughed. "I'll tell you something for nothing, though."

"What?"

"You're bloody lucky that they've got me all dressed up with nowhere to go," he sneered. "I didn't mean for Snape to almost come across me the that night. I didn't mean to cause him any harm."

"So?"

"So if you were to come within reaching distance of me right now, I might _just _mean it!" And Remus laughed, baring his teeth again; laughed so hard that tears ran down his cheeks and 

he howled, the sound reverberating around the block of cells so loudly that for the first time since that met, Sirius took a frightened step away from him.

"Oi! Wolf! Quiet in there!" Quentin shouted, heavy footsteps echoing towards the cell.

"Guard!" Remus called as the Officer appeared at the cell, nightstick poised. "It's okay. Just get this arsehole out of here, right now!" Quentin hurled the barred door open and laid a hand roughly on Sirius's shoulder.

"C'mon now, boy, you heard Wolfie – playtime's over."

"Just get him _out_!" Remus screamed. Quentin looked at him disdainfully.

"Mother of mercy! You feed it, you clothe it, and you give it a nice, comfy cell with a corner to piss in instead of a cage, and it thinks it's fuckin' _royalty_!"

"_It_ has a name, you know," Sirius said haughtily, glowering at the guard.

"Yeah, and _it_ should've been drowned at birth, but what'cha gonna do, eh?" he replied. Sirius opened his mouth to defend Remus, but his friend interrupted.

"It's true, Sirius, I should have. You should try actually reading the Law some day. You know, I've been arrested, led out of the school at wand-point, and thrown into prison. I may well receive the death penalty for your little prank. Do you have any idea how badly I've been humiliated by all of this? And you haven't even had the decency to _apologise_ to me!"

"Remus, I... I'm sorry..." Quentin led Sirius out of Remus's cell and reached for the door, nodding to his prisoner. Remus nodded back, and the guard began to slide the door shut.

"You're always sorry, Sirius. But now it's high time that you learned that being sorry actually means accepting responsibility for the consequences of your actions." The cell door slammed shut. "And this time, the consequences involve your friend's life."

"C'mon, boy," Quentin urged, tugging Sirius away down the prison corridor. He walked towards the duty desk in a guilty silence, tears of remorse over his own arrogant stupidity covering his cheeks as Remus's final words echoed down the corridor.

"I guess you'll just have to see how it all ends up at my trial. I'm at the mercy of Fate now, Sirius. The dice are in the air – let them fall as they may."

The End


End file.
